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Parents For Responsible Viewing - Biggie Bear (South Africa, 2003)
Three jarring and downright shocking PSAs from South Africa in 2003 by a company known as "Parents for responsible viewing". Who are essencially South Africa's answer to Germany's SWR. These three following PSAs features the titular "Biggie Bear" doing seemingly child-friendly things as the PSA begins, but as the PSA goes on, things turn a disturbingly dark turn for the worse. Biggie Bear Says Hello The first PSA in the series Description: The PSA fades in and we see a small garden with hay bales, fences and an orange tree. Text fades in that reads Biggie Bear says hello A man In a bear costume (Biggie Bear) skips over to the centre of the garden and says in a childish-like voice "Hello kids! What a beautiful day! Perhaps toda-" He is cutoff by another character who comes onstage, a man in a bunny costume, holding a beachball (known as Mr. Rabbit). Mr. Rabbit: "Hello Biggie Bear!" Biggie Bear pauses for a moment before raising his arms and saying Biggie Bear: "What do you want Mr. Rabbit?" Mr. Rabbit: "I just wanted God to say hello on this beautiful day!" Biggie Bear: "I told you not to come hear anymore!" He slaps Mr. Rabbit's Beachball out of his hand "This is my show!" Mr. Rabbit quickly says Mr. Rabbit: "Hi kids! How y'all doing!" Biggie Bear Then pushes Mr. Rabbit on the arm and quietly tells him to "Shut up!" Mr. Rabbit: "What's the matter Big-" Biggie Bear tells him to "Shut up!" again but this time more agressivly as he punches Mr. Rabbit in the neck, before then throwing him to the ground and punching him again Mr Rabbit then says "I'm sorry!" With blood coming out of his nose. Biggie Bear then pulls a pistol seemingly from out of nowhere and forces it into Mr. Rabbit's mouth "Do you see what happens when you come to my garden Daniel? Huh?! Do you see what happens?!" The screen fades to black as Biggie Pulls the trigger on the gun. Text fades onscreen that reads What is your child learning from television? The text fades away, replaced with The Parents for Responsible Viewing logo a second later FX: Live Action Sounds: Other than the characters talking, we can hear Mr. Rabbit Gurgling as Biggie Bear forces his pistol down Mr. Rabbit's throat, and a gunshot when the screen fades to black Music: A theme song can be heard at the very beginning of the PSA Availability: Rare, can be seen on YouTube Scare Factor: Nightmare. This PSA can be very jarring to see on the first watch. Especially when Biggie Bear kills Mr. Rabbit offscreen. Biggie Bear's surprise The second PSA in the series Description: The PSA opens up almost exactly like the previous one, only the Hay Bale in the center of the garden has moved over to the bottom left side of the garden. Text appears onscreen that reads Biggie Bear's surprise Biggie Bear skips in from the left of the screen Biggie Bear: "Hello kids! What a beautiful day! Look, the sun is out and... Oh! Here's Mr Spotty" A man dressed up in a Dalmatian costume walks gloomily onscreen. Biggie Bear: "Hi Mr. Spotty" Mr. Spotty says "Hello" back but in a sad tone Biggie Bear then asks "What's the matter?" Mr. Spotty: "I don't know, I'm just sad" Biggie Bear: "But it's such a beautiful day!" Mr. Spotty sighs and falls onto ground, sitting up. Biggie Bear stares at the screen for a second and kneels down to the ground Biggie Bear: "Well I've got just the thing to cheer you up!" Biggie Bear then pulls something from behind his back Mr. Spotty asks "What is it?" Biggie Bear lights something up on a spoon with a lighter Biggie Bear: "It's something that will make you happy again" The next shot reveals that Biggie Bear had been heating up heroin Biggie Bear: "Look, look at the bubbles" Mr. Spotty: "Are you sure this is OK?" Biggie Bear: "Mm, mm, It's fine, everyone does it" Biggie Bear then rolls up the sleeve of Mr. Spotty's costume, slaps it with his hand a couple times and injects it with the heroin seen before. Mr. Spotty can be seen getting High on the illegal drug Biggie Bear turns his head around fast and says to the viewers "See kids? It's easy to be happy again, Bye!" Biggie Bear skips offscreen The screen fades to black, and text fades onscreen that reads What is your child learning from television? The text fades away, replaced with The Parents for Responsible Viewing logo a second later FX: Same as Above Music: Same as above Sounds: Mr. Spotty can be heard moaning as he gets high on the heroin Cheese Factor: This PSA can potentially give off the message that "heroin is good and can make anyone happy" to younger viewers (This is unlikely however since these three PSAs have content that could most likely only be viewed post-watershed) Availability: Same as above Scare Factor: Medium to Nightmare. The way Biggie Bear acts when he dopes Mr. Spotty up on heroin can be seen as very jarring and unnerving by many viewers. Not to mention the close-up of Biggie Bear injecting the needle Biggie Bear meets a Friend The third and final PSA in this series, it is considered by many to be the most disturbing out of the trilogy Description: The PSA opens up almost exactly like the previous PSA. Text appears onscreen that reads Biggie Bear Meets a friend Biggie Bear comes onscreen from the right Biggie Bear: "Hello Kids! What a lovely day for a walk with us. Would you like to take a walk with me? Come on..." A woman dressed up in a cat costume holding a basket of flowers walks on to the side of the screen as Biggie Bear begins his walk. Biggie Bear: "Hello! Biggie Bear!" The woman introduces herself as Miss Pussycat Miss Pussycat: "Hello Biggie Bear! My name's Miss Pussycat, and I've been collecting flowers" Biggie Bear walks over to her to look at her flowers and says Biggie Bear: "Very wonderful Miss Pussycat..." Biggie Bear places his hand on her shoulder Biggie Bear: "...and so are you" Miss Pussycat: "Thanks Biggie Bear!" Things then take a very dark turn as Biggie Bear starts moving his hand up and down Miss Pussycat's arm Biggie Bear: "And you feel pretty good" Miss Pussycat then starts moving her hands on Biggie Bear's body Miss Pussycat: "You feel pretty good too" They then start acting sensual towards each other as they fall to the ground. Biggie Bear then quickly proceeds to act violently towards Miss Pussycat, telling her to "shut up" as he begins to rape her. The screen fades to black, and text fades onscreen that reads What is your child learning from television? The text fades away, replaced with The Parents for Responsible Viewing logo a second later FX: Same as both of the above Music: Same as both of the above Sounds: We can hear some rather uncomfortable sounds coming from both Biggie Bear and Miss Pussycat as they fall to the ground Availability: Same as both of the above Scare Factor: Nightmare. Many people would consider it downright baffling this was even allowed to air on TV as a whole. Category:False Sesame Street Category:Nightmare-rated PIFs Category:Parents For Responsible Viewing (PFRTV) Category:South Africa Category:PIFs